Sherry Mueller, president of the nonprofit National Council for International Visitors, writes in today’s Christian Science Monitor,

While public diplomacy depends on active engagement by citizens, not just government agencies, it is a necessary government expenditure. By increasing funding for these programs and supporting the public-private partnerships that have engaged so many Americans as volunteer citizen diplomats, we will reap tremendous benefits for generations to come.

Full article here. Do you support increased funding for public diplomacy programs? Agree or disagree about the benefits? Have you ever been a citizen diplomat? Do you plan on being a citizen diplomat?

Is a good program, our child was offered this opportunity this coming calendar year at 15. We will find the monies and support this endeavour. I think in an increasingly connected world that this experience is valuable. I also see it as a means to expand ones understanding beyond the immediate horizon and think at a more cosmopolitan level. Many service people take for granted their travel, their understandings of different cultures.

I think that you better appreciate America after first taking some trips abroad.